Sacraments

HOLY SACRAMENTS

Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church, and made sharers in her mission. Since Baptism is not a private celebration, but an incorporation in the large community of the Church, Baptisms are celebrated after Mass.

Holy Matrimony, the intimate community of life and love, has been established by the Creator and is endowed by him with its own proper laws. God himself is the author of marriage. The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. In the Catholic Church the celebration of marriage takes place during Holy Mass, because of the connection of all the sacraments with the Paschal mystery of Christ.

RCIA (The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) is the rite by which newcomers to the Catholic Church may receive the sacraments of Christian initiation- Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist; which lay the foundations of every Christian life. The faithful are born anew by Baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life. By means of these sacraments they thus receive in increasing measure the treasures of the divine life and advance toward the perfection of charity.